Klamath Falls gets rapid test instruments

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls is one of several rural Oregon counties that now have access to rapid COVID-19 testing machines provided by the Oregon Health Authority.

15 Abbot ID NOW rapid testing machines were distributed to rural Oregon hospitals in April, but the remaining 12 weren’t sent because of a lack of supplies. But on May 12, OHA said the remaining machines have been distributed to several counties including Klamath County.

“As we begin to gradually reopen our communities, rapid testing will be a key tool to help ensure counties can stay open and quickly identify, treat, and isolate new cases of COVID-19,” said Governor Kate Brown. “Now that the federal government has finally supplied Oregon with the testing materials needed to run these Abbott ID NOW machines, we can deploy these instruments to hospitals across the state to bring additional testing capacity to counties.”

OHA distributed the Abbot ID NOW instruments to states which had limited resources to test for COVID-19.